


Eclipse

by evilfestival



Category: MapleStory
Genre: Angst, Gen, I suppose?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25701259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilfestival/pseuds/evilfestival
Summary: Acceptance and harmony of the self is not always so easy, for if the two sides tear so viciously at each other, it threatens to rip Luminous apart.
Kudos: 9





	Eclipse

**Author's Note:**

> Luminous uses they/them pronouns in this fic. Because I felt like it.

How were they to live?

The forest of lush green, baby birds chirping, spring rolling in and flowers bursting into beautiful blooms, the petite, red roofs of Luminous’s home adorned with bright bushes and soft moss -- all razed into the ground. The smoke, the scent of burning, the cinders, the ashes drifting aimlessly in the air like lost souls...and Luminous’s own left hand, wisps of smoke still trailing from their fingertips like a just-used firearm.

Luminous knew, immediately. The Black Mage’s curse. But why now? Why, why, why? Just when they thought they had everything they could’ve wanted; just when they had gotten accustomed to that peaceful, tranquil life with Lania, free of strife, free of darkness and destruction, free of the Black Mage? Was this some sort of cruel jest?

“Lania… Lania!” They couldn’t feel their legs, but stubbornly tripped their way over to Lania regardless, and checked her pulse. She was alive. She was unconscious, and had suffered burn wounds, but only mild ones; nothing life-endangering, and nothing that jeopardized any vital spots. “Penny!” they shouted next, hesitating for a moment to leave Lania there on the ground, but she was going to be alright, and Luminous hadn’t yet confirmed the same of Penny. Inside the collapsed house, Luminous found Penny, also unconscious; Penny was scraped and bruised, but otherwise unscathed. Relief washed over Luminous.

But that relief, too, was shot down by another feeling clawing its way up inside them. A vision engulfed them: Luminous standing amidst a sea of flames, everything and everyone that dare oppose them shredded into ashes; a cruel smile crept up on their lips as they envisioned it, a sight so exhilarating, as though perhaps this was the state that the world was  _ meant _ to be in; weren’t they just so tired of the light? Of looking to the light, only to lose more and more; didn’t they crave that release, because it could so easily be theirs… And alongside that ravenous feeling came disgust, revulsion. For Luminous, the representative of light, to have such thoughts and desires? Disgraceful! They had already burnt everything they loved into crisps; what more could they possibly want?! Certainly this was a curse that the Black Mage had forced onto them, yet the smoke from the dark spell’s impact trailed not from the Black Mage’s fingers, but from Luminous’s very own.

Luminous knew. They couldn’t stay here any longer.

* * *

“You want me to  _ master  _ this repulsive dark magic?” Luminous could hardly believe what they were hearing.

“It’s a part of you now, so I would say it doesn’t look like you’ve got any other choice.” Vieren understood, and placed his ghostly palm upon Luminous’s shoulder. “I know how you feel. But since you’re stuck with it, you’ve got to work with it if you don’t want it to get out of control again.”

“There’s no way to...to purge it from me? The slightest touch upon the Black Mage, and I’m irreversibly turned into-- into  _ this _ ?” Luminous gestured at themself, as though pointing out a stain on the wall to Vieren. “We are magicians of light, Vieren! My entire life, what I’ve studied for is to master the art of the light, and-- to  _ vanquish _ darkness, not  _ harbor _ it in my very own chest! I...I can’t accept it!”

Vieren looked gently into the eyes of his old friend Luminous. He could tell that more than anything, Luminous simply needed time to come to terms with this drastic change that had been forced upon them. They would be able to accept it in time.

Once Luminous regained some composure, they sat themself down upon the nearest chair. “Vieren, I apologize. I spoke as though you failed to understand, while neglecting that we trained to master the art of the light as classmates. Though my mind was upset, I have done you a disservice regardless.”

“Don’t worry, Luminous. I know.” Vieren took a seat across from them, smiling reassuringly through his beard. It had been so long since Vieren had heard that familiar formal style of speech, one that stuck out like an even sorer thumb in modern times. "Anywho, when you're ready, I'm sure I can be of some help to you. I haven't spent centuries studying all of these books for nothing, after all!"

"I will yet need some time to accustom myself to this task...but I will let you know when I am ready to face it. I have no choice, loathe as I am to admit it. But this is the only way to move forward."

"Attamage," smiled Vieren.

* * *

There was something excruciatingly cruel and violating about having to grapple with an opposing force within themself for control of their own body and actions. The fact that that force was a remnant of the Black Mage, their arch-enemy, only added to the insult. Luminous had never before felt so disgusted by themself, even knowing that it wasn’t their fault that it had happened this way, and yet...how could they separate their loathing for the Black Mage from the piece of him that resided within their very own heart and body? Worse, some of the dark spells that Luminous had to master in order to regain autonomy for their soul held painfully obvious resemblance to some of the very same dark spells that they remembered seeing strike down their loved ones and allies. The simple slimes and orange mushrooms that they were practicing their magic upon now; the way their dark spells tore at them and burned them down into the ground mercilessly, like a ravenous animal… It too easily brought back visions of similar, but much more powerful dark spells striking down Mercedes, Freud, Aran, and Phantom. How could Luminous not loathe this darkness, condemn it, curse it? Yet they had no choice but to weave those spells of destruction from their very own light staff; somehow, they felt as though they were tainting their own staff as well, given that it was a tool of light, and one that had served them through so many years of light practitioning.

Worst of all, Luminous could feel their own body and their own energy resonating with the darkness. Dark impulses and desires not unlike what they felt when they lost control of themself to it and hurt Lania; these crept up in their heart again with each spell, threatening to seize control over Luminous once again. This training and practice was precisely to be able to handle those effects while remaining in control, so they had to grit their teeth and endure it! But whenever their mind drifted too far, and they began to reflect upon their current loathsome state: a supposed practitioner of light, filled with a hunger for death and destruction, hardly worthy now of their light staff and white Auroran robes; they could not help but feel a soul-crushing shame, as though they were gazing upon nothing more than a laughable parody of everything about themself that they once took pride in.

With such intense feelings steadily welling up inside them, and the darkness in the air increasing from all of their spells, they should’ve known that it would serve only to feed their inner darkness, and before they knew it, that desire to rip at themself twisted outwards: their light staff trembled, and from it exploded countless dark chains, thrashing upon everything in sight like a kraken crushing a ship within its many grasps. By the time Luminous had realized what was happening, it was already too late to stop it. Then…

**“That’s one thing you do have straight, shitty light mage. You** **_are_ ** **a laughable excuse for a magic user.”**


End file.
